John Stokes (Conservative politician)
Sir John Stokes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Stourbridge (Oldbury and Halesowen, 1970-1974) | |
| In office 18 June 1970 – 16 March 1992 | |
| Preceded by | John Horner |
| Succeeded by | Warren Hawksley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Heydon Romaine Stokes 23 July 1917 |
| Died | 27 June 2003 (aged 85) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | Barbara Yorke
(m. 1939; died 1988)Elsie F. Plowman
(m. 1989; died 1990)Lady Ruth Bligh
(m. 1991; div. 1996)Frances Packham (m. 1996) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Queen's College, Oxford |
Sir John Heydon Romaine Stokes (23 July 1917 – 27 June 2003) was a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and career
The son of Victor Romaine Stokes, a stockjobber, Stokes was educated at Haileybury College and Queen's College, Oxford.[1] He stood for election as president of the Oxford University Conservative Association on a platform of support for appeasement and General Franco, but lost out by seven votes to future Prime Minister Edward Heath.[1][2] He served as president of The Oxford Monarchists.[2]
During
After the war Stokes joined ICI as a personnel officer, moving to British Celanese in 1951 as personnel manager and to Courtaulds in 1957 as deputy personnel manager. He was a partner in his own firm of personnel consultants, Clive and Stokes, from 1959 to 1980.[1][2]
Political career
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2016) |
In 1964, Stokes contested Gloucester for the Conservatives. Two years later, he contested Hitchin and was defeated by Shirley Williams.[2] He was elected MP for Oldbury and Halesowen at the 1970 general election and for its successor seat, Halesowen and Stourbridge in February 1974, holding the latter until stepping down in 1992.
He was a very active backbencher and described as an "old-fashioned Conservative who trusted his constituents' instincts about what was right and wrong. He looked the part of the typical Conservative who graced the Commons benches in the years after (and before) the
He had little time for professional politicians. He argued that the backbenches in parliament needed more army officers, "more squires, landowners, and country gentlemen." He attributed the decline of deference in society to the demise of the officer classes from positions of influence. He was also a firm defender of the hereditary principle in the Upper House and wrote the foreword to a Monday Club booklet by Lord Sudeley entitled The Preservation of the House of Lords. In 1975 Stokes spoke against a Private Members Bill to abolish hereditary titles, which was defeated.
During the crippling strikes at British Leyland in the 1970s, Stokes suggested in the House that it might help the troubles there if a few of the ringleaders were taken out and shot.[1] He was a staunch supporter of hanging.[2] He believed that television generally, and the BBC in particular, had "corrupted our English civilisation, our taste and our morals".[1]
He was Chairman of the Primrose League General Purposes Committee from 1971 to 1985.
In foreign affairs, Stokes was a supporter of Rhodesia and of the Turkish Cypriots.[2] He served on parliamentary delegations to many countries; a delegate to the Council of Europe and Western European Union from 1983; in 1992, he led a Council of Europe delegation to observe the elections in Albania.
Stokes was one of several MPs who assailed the
The following month, when the
Describing a House of Commons debate on
When
In 1990, following the Iraqi invasion of
Monday Club
John Stokes was a long-standing (joined prior to 1970) member of the
Personal life
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Stokes was married four times. He married firstly, on 23 December 1939 at All Souls Church, Langham Place, Barbara Yorke (died 1988), younger daughter of R. E. Yorke of Wellingborough, by whom he had one son and two daughters; he married secondly, on 21 January 1989 in Aylesbury Vale, Elsie F. Plowman (died 1990); he married thirdly, in 1991 in Aylesbury Vale, Lady (Ruth) Bligh, widow of Sir Timothy Bligh (who had been secretary to Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister), which marriage was dissolved in 1996; he married fourthly, in 1996 in the chapel of his alma mater, Queen's College, Oxford, Frances Packham, widow of Lieutenant-Commander Donald Packham.
Publications
- Stokes, John, Crusader '80, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.84, no.6, Nov/Dec 1980 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, The State of the Nation, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.86, no.2, April 1982 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, The Falklands Spirit, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.86, no.5, Nov/Dec 1982 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, The Church and the Bomb, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.87, no.3, July 1983 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, Politics and The Church, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.89, no.1, April/May 1985 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, An Issue Greater Than Party Advantage, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.90, no.1, Feb/March 1986 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, A Long and Glorious History, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.90, no.2, June/July 1986 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, The Condition of The People, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.91, no.1, March/April 1987 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, The Place of the Book of Common Prayer in the Fabric of The Nation, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.91, no.3, Nov/Dec 1987 edition, London.
- Stokes, John, A Quiet and Undemonstrable People, in the Primrose League Gazette, vol.92, no.1, April/May 1988 edition, London.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Obituary - Daily Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. London. 30 June 2003. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h John Barnes (30 June 2003). "Obituary - Sir John Stokes". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ The Times Sir John Stokes - Obituary, p. 29, 3 July 2003
- ^ "My fear as Saddam's hostage". BBC News. 6 March 2003. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
Sources
- Copping, Robert, The Story of The Monday Club - The First Decade (April 1972), and The Monday Club - Crisis and After (May 1975), both published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (both P/B).
- Black, A & C, Who's Who, London, 1986; ISBN 0-7136-2760-3
- Dodd's Parliamentary Companion, East Sussex, 1991; ISBN 0-905702-17-4
